UNKNOWN

Victim Location 22311
Type of a scam Identity Theft

I keep getting phone calls from this number acting like they are my cable company. They say there are issues with my service, via a recording, and they need me to call to schedule an appointment. They never state the company name.

Victim Location 83340
Type of a scam Tax Collection

9-7-2016 a phone call to my cell phone from 612-512-4234 (displayed on my Caller ID as from Minnesota). There was a recording message when I answered telling me that it was a call from the IRS and that there was going to be a Law Suit against me and to call that same # about it right away.

I did not call, but I do think someone should follow through and find out what is going on with this type of thing!!!

Victim Location 83605
Type of a scam Identity Theft

Message on my telephone answering machine left at 1:50 today (Wednesday 09-07-2016)

Could not understand it clearing but something to the effect my ID was under investigation by the Federal Government. I was to call 506-801-3819. I did not return the call.

Victim Location 79928
Type of a scam Government Grant

At 11:51am (MDT) I was called by a gentleman who asked to speak to Michael, He stated I was eligible to receive a government grant of $9600.00. I was one of 1500 people selected each year who paid their bills and taxes on time. He had my name, mailing address and email address already. He asked how I would like to receive the check and I told him by mail. He said I would be receiving the check in the mail in a few days. I did not give any personal information, as mentioned he already had my name and address. I found the following on the internet about a similar scam in Houston.

HOUSTON (KTRK) --

Phones are ringing all over Houston with the promise of cash in the form of government grants.

There's just one problem. Grants are not easy to get, but that's not what callers are telling Houston residents. The catch to getting government money? You have to pay first.

Betty Williams says a recent call to her cell came with the promise of big bucks.

"The reason they said my number was picked was because he government is giving free grants to people who pay their bills on time and pay all of their taxes," said Williams.

Williams says the caller said she would get $7500 in government grants to help pay bills. But to get the money, she needed to wire $300 first.

Williams says that's a step she knew not to take.

"There are a lot of senior citizens who do not know a lot, especially at my age, they will say, 'oh 7500 dollars,'" said Williams.

Fortunately Williams knows better, did some research.

"I found out this is really truly a scam. I am not crazy, I was not born yesterday," said Williams. "I might be a senior citizen, but I got all my mental faculties with me."

Monica Russo with the Houston ScamPulse.com says Williams did the right thing by not falling for the grant scam. She says getting a real grant is not so easy.

"It's a whole process. You have to apply for it. A lot of times you have to draft paper work for it. So it's not something that is as easy as these guys make it out to be," said Russo.

The BBB says to be on the lookout because if one person in our area got this call, it will likely happen to many, many more.

Related Topics:

Victim Location 35654
Type of a scam Tax Collection

305-508-5448

Victim Location 76016
Type of a scam Charity

Same caller called two days in a row, with an identical script, first day for the Disable American Veterans, the next day with a completely different veteran's charity. Totally unbelievable.

Victim Location 55042
Type of a scam Other

Called us a bunch of times saying they were the IRS and calling about a claim; however when reverse phone looked up there was not a number stating anything related to IRS. Guy asked if was a call or voicemail left we stated aren't they the same when called back and then were hung up on. We called back and said to stop calling and he asked what number was being called and said he would remove.

Victim Location 48038
Type of a scam Tax Collection

Automated call asking to contact them to pay an IRS tax debt. Threaten police action or imprisonment if you do not respond.

Victim Location 98402
Type of a scam Phishing

received a text message from number 855-223-8520 it said:

Your Bank of America Bank Card has been locked due to failed login attempts. Follow www.cards-bankofamerica.com to reinstate and update your profile!

the link then opens up a window to bank of america website where they ask you for your date of birth, login information and account numbers. called bank directly and they told me they have not sent any text messages and that account was not locked. My fiancé also received this text message, he doesn't even have bank of america. I froze my account and they are sending me new cards so nobody can access my account.

Victim Location 45237
Type of a scam Other

So far this morning (8/26) I have received three phones calls from someone stating "A local police officer has been placed at your home. If you wish to obtain a release order press 1." I have not provided any information but wanted others to be aware.

Victim Location 87109
Type of a scam Tax Collection

I received a phone call from the listed number claiming to be from the IRS and they were contacting me concerning a pending lawsuit against me from the IRS.

Victim Location 35756
Type of a scam Tax Collection

Unknown person called claiming that this was the final notice and the IRS had a warrant for my arrest. I was directed to call (323) 434-2156 immediately. We did not answer the call, this information was left on the voicemail.

We have no intentions of returning the call.

The message didn't identify us by name, just the IRS had a warrant (which I know is false) and this was the final notice.

Victim Location 90013
Type of a scam Other

Said Owners of Facebook gave users 99 shares and I was on list to receive 100,000.00 by courier/ups I am give them 1000.00 in s&h fee

Victim Location 38134
Type of a scam Phishing

Phone call stated that it was federal agent trying to contact about a "No show to federal court" and needed to call back to pay fine

Victim Location 80247
Type of a scam Credit Repair/Debt Relief

I continue to receive phone calls from individuals claiming to be with 'Card Services'. Each time the calls come from a different phone number in a completely different area (Houston TX, Palo Alto CA, Seattle WA, etc...). When I answer an automated record plays, saying that I qualify for 'lower interest rates on my credit card, dial 1 now to speak with an agent'. I dial 1, the person who answers sounds Indian or Middle Eastern and always has poor English. On Monday of this week I received a call from 6507998221 also claiming to be with card services. I told the person that I spoke with that I want them to take me off their call list and that I was going to report them to the ScamPulse.com and FTC if they called me again. The person I spoke with assured me that he had taken me of their list and that I wouldn't be receiving any more calls. I asked for his name several times but his English was so poor I couldn't even understand him.

This morning I received another call from 'Card Services', this time from 2819323936. Once again, I dialed 1 to speak with an agent. The person who answered had even worse English than the last person, I literally couldn't understand anything he said. I stated that I had asked to be taken of their list and that I was going to report them to the ScamPulse.com and FTC, at which point the person on the other end began speaking in a foreign language, before asking me 'not to squeeze him' and hanging up. I am SO sick and tired of getting these fraudulent calls multiple times a week!

Victim Location 70460
Type of a scam Tax Collection

Tape recording of a IRS debt, return call to (410)600-5561. I called the number, not immediately, and it just rang multiple times, no pick up from an answering machine or live person.

Victim Location 66441
Type of a scam Credit Cards

Received call, put on hold told me I owe money on credit card, but said nothing about who company is. I told them I had no credit cards at all, he said something, a lot of loud noise in background and hung up. I've had fraud on my debit card before, so worried something is up, but nothing additional to report at this time.

Victim Location 99201
Type of a scam Sweepstakes/Lottery/Prizes

Received a call this morning saying that I am the winner of 2 million dollars and a car.

The girl said she is calling from the Publishers clearing house.

The call came from Jamaica, 1-876-527-3610

T will not hold my breath waiting for the clearing house to come to my door with the money,

Just thought you would like to know. Thankyou....

Victim Location 35811
Total money lost $4,000
Type of a scam Family/Friend Emergency

This past Monday morning, August 15, 2016, someone with a "private number" telephoned my parents, who are 83 and 76 years old and live in zip code 35811, and pretended to be a grandson. Shortly into the casual conversation, there was a staged arrest. Someone calling himself Captain John Rockford was apparently very intimidating, and he insisted my parents go to Best Buy (University Parkway) and purchase $4,000 worth of iTunes gift cards, in $500 increments to keep the grandson out of jail or something to that effect.

My parents went to Best Buy, purchased the cards on their Discover credit card, went home and called "Capt. Rockford" back at 866-536-2913 and read the iTunes card numbers to him. It wasn't until later in the day that they realized the grandson had not been arrested and that they had been scammed.

My wife and I began immediately on Monday afternoon (same day) calling Best Buy, Discover, Apple, and Mediacom to try to stop the transactions at some point in the process. The local Best Buy takes no responsibility for selling an 83-year-old $4,000 in iTunes cards (I'm sure they were glad to get the sales boost for the day), although we have filed a fraud report with their corporate Best Buy office. So far, Discover has refused to stop payment or take any responsibility, although I thought most credit card companies had algorithms to flag unusual purchases of large amounts. (We don't use Discover, but we've had American Express as well as our credit union call us about attempted fraudulent transactions.) Apple tried to be helpful, but after our spending 1.5 hours on the phone with them they said the eight $500 iTunes cards had already been spent and there was nothing else they could do. Mediacom says they have no way of identifying the phone number the initial call originated from.

Sometime today, my parents are supposed to have a law enforcement person from Madison County come to their house to get a police report filed. Apple or Best Buy one also suggested filing a report with the FBI, but we aren't sure about how to do that. Perhaps the police officer can make that determination.

In doing our research following this incident, we found that my parents are not alone in being victims of this scam. Here is a similar report out of a TV station in Charlotte, NC:

http://www.wfmynews2.com/money/consumer/scammers-turn-to-itunes-cards/298338635

Victim Location 44253
Type of a scam Tax Collection

received two calls on cell phone 8/17/16 requesting me to call immediately as there was something on my tax documents showing I was trying to fraud the government.